Update 20B

Revision History

This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:

Overview

This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in this update.

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this document may include statements about Oracle’s product development plans. Many factors can materially affect Oracle’s product development plans and the nature and timing of future product releases. Accordingly, this Information is provided to you solely for information only, is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

This information may not be incorporated into any contractual agreement with Oracle or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Oracle specifically disclaims any liability with respect to this information. Refer to the Legal Notices and Terms of Use for further information.

Administration

Show or Hide Activity Type on Where Is My Technician Screen

Starting with 20B, you can show or hide the activity type details on the Where is My Technician screen. You can use the "Show activity type" check box on the "Technician and map" section on the Where is My Technician theme. The "Show activity type" option is selected by default.

Show the Time Notified for Where Is My Technician

Starting with 20B, the Where's My Technician {ARRIVAL TIME RANGE} placeholder is enhanced to support the Time Notified field. You can set the value for Time Notified through the Outbound API using 'send_message'. If you set the value, it will be used in the Where's My Technician screen, instead of the Delivery Window or Service Window.

Android and iOS Applications

Browse Local Files in Android and iOS Applications

Starting with 20B, based on the operating system version and the third-party software you have installed, you can select the file location and upload files to Oracle Field Service from the photo library or a third-party storage device using the file property.

Set Camera Permissions to Use Barcode Scanner

The native apps (Android or iOS) must have the necessary permissions to access the device camera to scan barcodes. Starting with 20B, when you try to use the barcode scanner for the first time, if the camera permissions are missing, the app prompts for the permission.

APIs

Bulk-Upload Activities Even for Unavailable Resources

Starting with 20B, you can use the “Bulk update activities” REST API method to create activities during bulk upload, even for inactive or non-working resources. You can use the fallbackResourceId field to specify where the activity should be added in those cases. If the target resource is invalid or absent, so that you can bulk-upload activities without any errors. You can view the warnings in the response output for the activities that use the fallbackResourceId field.

Create Activity Links for Segmentable Activities

Starting with 20B, you can create a link between regular and segmentable activities for these link types and constraints using Core API:

• Simultaneous (Segmentable and Regular activities): no constraints available
• Regular activity finish to segmentable activity start: Same Day, Same Provider
• Segmentable activity finish to regular activity start: SameDay, SameProvider, DifferentProviders
• Segmentable activity start to regular activity start: Different Providers

Retrieve Additional Parameters for an Activity

Starting with 20B, you can retrieve these additional parameters for an activity:

• autoRoutedToDate
• autoRoutedToResource
• travelEstimationMethod
• coordinateAccuracy 

You can retrieve these parameters using the GET activity, GET activities, PATCH activity, GET activities/custom-actions/search, and GET events REST API methods.

Retrieve Work Zones or Work Skills for a Resource Using a Date Range

Starting with 20B, you can retrieve work zones or work skills that are assigned to a resource using a date range. You can retrieve this information by providing the dateFrom and dateTo query parameters for the GET work zones and GET work skills REST API methods.

Core Application

Core Application Improvements

Starting with 20B, these improvements are available in Core Application:

• Activity and resource hints on all the screens show all the configured links at the bottom of the hint, in the same way they are displayed in the hints in Dispatch Console.
• Colors that you configure on the Add activity types screen for activity statuses are shown throughout the application and not just the Dispatch Console.
• You can filter data using each column on the activity History screen, the same way you can filter in Legacy Manage.

Dispatch Map: Draw a Polygon to Select Activities

Starting with 20B, a Lasso icon is available on the Dispatch Console map in Core Application. You can draw a polygon to select non-scheduled activities. You can perform these tasks with the selected activities:

• View activity details.
• View the activity map markers.
• Move one or several activities to another resource.

You can now draw an area on the Route map for selecting activities. This functionality is also available on the Dispatch Console map. You can also select and schedule multiple activities from the selected area and thereby, reduce dispatcher’s time when scheduling and enhance user experience in Route and Dispatch Console maps.

This function is not available in Legacy Manage.

Edit Fields in the Main Screen of Activity Details and Screen Navigation

Starting with 20B, the Core Application configuration and usability is simplified with these improvements:

• Editable Activity Details screen
• Confirmation dialog
• Support of drafts for screens other than forms

Highlight On-Calls on Resource Calendar

Starting with 20B, you can highlight on-call shifts with different colors, so that you can visually distinguish between such shifts. You can select the color at the time of creating the on-call shift.

Navigate to Internal Screens and Plug-Ins in Native and Core Application

Starting with 20B, users can directly access internal screens such as Activity details, List view, or Inventory details within the Oracle Field Service Mobile Application for custom Android or iOS apps or the Core Application using specific direct URLs.

Oracle Digital Assistant (ODA) Integration for Where Is My Technician

Starting with 20B, the integration between the Where is My Technician screen and Oracle Digital Assistant (ODA) is enhanced to provide simpler integration.

The integration provides these features:

• Configuration fields are added on the Where is My Technician Theme screen to integrate with the Oracle Web channel.
• The Assistant Chat widget has the same theme style as the Where is My Technician theme.
• The chat window automatically opens on the Feedback screen, if the user rates the service. For example, the assistant can display “thanks for a high score” or can ask “what was not good for a low score”.
• Notifications are displayed if the conversation is initiated by the Where is My Technician assistant.

Preserve Metadata When Taking Images from Camera

Starting with 20B, whenever you take images using the camera, the coordinates are stored in the image metadata, when these conditions are met:

• Geolocation is enabled on the device.
• 'Store location in pictures' is selected in the camera settings.

Separate Travel Code for Real-Time Traffic Update

Starting with 20B, the travel time adjustment made by a real-time traffic update is shown as Real-time traffic, instead of Manual adjustment on the History screen.

Set Action Time in Core Application

Starting with 20B, the Allow action time adjustment in Legacy Manage setting on the User Types screen is renamed as Allow action time adjustment. User Types configured with this option enabled can modify the time and set it to a different time for these actions: activate a route, deactivate a route, reactivate a route, start an activity, end an activity, suspend an activity, set an activity as not-done, start prework, and end prework.

Support of Initial Ratio for Resource in Core Application

Starting with 20B, you can set the value for the Initial ratio for Activity duration field in Core Application, while adding a field resource.

View Daylight Saving Time Changes in Core Application

Starting with 20B, the time line on the Manage screen shows the changes in the daylight saving time. The hint shows the number of hours by which the clock is shifted backward or forward.

Collaboration

Enable Helpdesk with Oracle Digital Assistant

Starting with 20B, you can enable Oracle Digital Assistant (ODA) on Oracle Field Service Helpdesks. When you enable it, ODA can act as a virtual operator and can answer queries from technicians and other internal users. You can train the ODA based on your business requirements and can equip it by adding skills to learn, engage, suggest, and recommend resolutions for the technicians' key problems.

Receive Collaboration Notifications as Android Push Notifications

Starting with 20B, collaboration notifications are available as push notifications within the Oracle Field Service Mobile for Android app. With this feature, you can receive a notification when the application is running in the background. Collaboration notification provides timely alerts of new collaboration messages for native mobile app users, whether they are using the application or not.

NOTE: Such collaboration notifications are displayed only when the app runs in the background.